The Water Sound

Author Comments

My next animation project, Kanon Rock, is now in pre-production, and for the first time, it's seeking crowdfunding at kickstarter.com. If you're interested in backing the project, you can receive the film early, or even make an animated appearance within the film! Check it out here: http://t.co/iaosDJ2PKV

Edit: Thank you so much to Tom and the others for putting this on the front page! All constructive reviews, whether or not you enjoyed the piece, will be replied to, so please feel free to share your thoughts!

A Japanese writer struggling to write a poem finds inspiration when he least expects it.

Inspired by the famous poem by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), the first master of Japanese Haiku:

"An Ancient Pond,
A frog jumps forth,
The Water Sound".

Created about a year ago, to experiment with the integration of painted backgrounds into flash and try drawing on ones at 24 fps. A moderate success, if I may humbly say so, and a serene work at that. Enjoy!

Edit3: Some users have reported problems with the video (ie inability to play through the entire piece) when using Chrome on Windows 7. The problems have apparently been fixed, but if this happens to you, you can view the video on youtube (remove any spaces between words): http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=xP9D9OvEoZ4

Couldn't agree more with all the other good reviews you have acquired with your work here, the visual representation of the process of how he received the vision to the poem and to his genius, couldn't honour him any more than this.

Wow, this is really beautiful work!
The animation and artwork is really well done. The canvas texture you used in some of the backgrounds really add a nice organic feel to the visuals.
The serene sounds of chimes and nature added the perfect audio accompaniment for this well thought out short.
Really, this is gorgeous.
Keep up the amazing work.